When elastically supporting relatively large masses it is difficult to attain spring characteristics which are as soft as possible, i.e., comprising a flat spring characteristic curve, while at the same time achieving good durability of the spring elements. Another problem which has to be taken into account when constructing spring elements is that the acoustically insulating behaviour between the two parts to be elastically connected has to be as good as possible. Therefore, elastic support buffers are used frequently in engineering fields and, especially, in vehicle construction for cushioning engines. Nowadays, spring elements consisting of a relatively rigid elastomer material which are interspersed by channels to attain soft spring characteristics and to decrease the local loads inside the material are used instead of solid elastomer blocks according to the prior art which comprised a relatively fast fatigue material. When the elastomer blocks are compressed by a load, the volume of the channels is decreased by the displaced material, which means the channels are used as a deformation zone, such that the deformation of the outer shape of the blocks and the high local loads caused by the nonhomogeneous load concentration can be reduced.
An example of a buffer of the above type is disclosed in German application DE 35 35 897 A1, wherein an elastomer block is interspersed with channels intersecting cavities uniformly distributed inside the elastomer material. The channels form groups of channels extending equidistantly spaced and parallel to each other wherein these groups of channels are arranged in planes stacked on top of each other with respect to the direction of the vector of the load and wherein the planes defined by the groups of channels are orientated horizontally and parallel to each other, which means that the channels neither intersect nor contact each other. Each plane is rotated for a certain constant angle with respect to the plane below whereat the direction of the rotation remains unchanged such that the channels are helically distributed in space. For example, when having a rotation angle of 90.degree., an alternating arrangement of the channels is provided wherein the channels cross each other without intersecting or touching each other such that the cavities form a packed cubic lattice. Rubber springs of this kind comprise exceptionally good acoustically damping characteristics, a flat spring characteristic curve and a high mechanical rigidity, but they are limited in their range of application by the horizontal orientation of the groups of channels.